Nurse committed murders to "test" doctors

Police have already dubbed it an unprecedented case in Czech criminal
history: a case in which a hospital nurse murdered seven patients by
lethal injection, and attempted to kill ten others. The nurse, 30-year-old
Petr Zelenka who worked at a hospital in eastern Bohemia's Havlickuv Brod,
was caught, but not before several months had passed: from May to
December. Now, many are questioning how the perpetrator was able to get
away with it for so long and are calling for preventive measures to stop
anything similar from happening again.

He reportedly killed with a hidden vial of heparin - a blood-thinning drug
causing internal bleeding when administered in large doses. Then, he
quietly completed his shift. 30-year-old Petr Zelenka: nurse at the
hospital in Havlickuv Brod. At first, the hospital was unable to register
anything wrong given the relatively high number of deaths in intensive
care even under normal circumstances. But, eventually, it became clear
that an unusually high number of patients were dying from internal
bleeding.

The scales were tipped by a seventh death in September and it was then
that the hospital negotiated with Mr Zelenka to give up his post. Acting
on suspicions, the hospital finally notified police a week later, but
charges were not pressed against the nurse per sae but against an unknown
perpetrator.

Now, not surprisingly, there has been criticism. Some think that the
hospital should have been more swift in its actions and should have
informed regional health authorities about the case. Some even the health
minister has stated, it should have fired Mr Zelenka outright rather than
ending his contract by negotiation. Those measures would have arguably
prevented Mr Zelenka from getting a job at another hospital in nearby
Jihlava. Although it appears while there Mr Zelenka did not have time to
kill again, there is little doubt he would have eventually. Police
psychologist Ludmila Cirtkova described such killers' states for Czech
Radio:

Health Minister Tomas Julinek, photo: CTK"Such people enjoy killing the helpless, those who need to rely on
the help of others. They think and feel differently than the rest of us
and get enjoyment from deciding over life and death. That's where they
gain the most pleasure."

Although Mr Zelenka case is being treated as an isolated one but there's
no question security and procedural checks at hospitals and health
facilities will now need to be increased. Health Minister Tomas Julinek:

"It's important that hospitals implement a higher number of
mechanisms for repeatedly checking some processes: more controls, more
people, like you have for security at airports. Like airports, hospitals
are highly sensitive sites. Measures should be introduced. That also
pertains to my call on hospital directors to increase accreditation in
security measures several weeks ago."

In this case, Mr Zelenka has already confessed and has been taken into
custody. His lawyer has been quoted as saying the nurse may have killed on
an impulse to "test" doctors in Havlickuv Brod, in the belief
they were not good enough to discover the truth. According to reports,
this is one area where the suspect has shown emotion: surprise that in the
end he finally was caught.